The New Adversary
by HannaHeyes
Summary: What has provoked Heyes to show a side of himself rarely seen?  This is my first fanfic so please be gentle!


The New Adversary

The sun was high in the noonday sky as Kid Curry sauntered up the hill to practice his shooting once again. He'd spent the morning grooming his horse, now he was going to relax. Wheat, Kyle, and the rest of the Devil's Hole Gang had left early that morning to get supplies for the coming winter. Kid kind of enjoyed the times that the rest of the gang were gone. Even though Hannibal Heyes hadn't went on the supply run and was still in the cabin, Kid had at least a few hours of semi-privacy while the others were gone. It gave him a chance to blow off some of the tension he normally kept tucked away inside. He lined a bunch of empty bottles up on a fence railing, then walked away to take aim. Just as he was about to pull the trigger and blow the unsuspecting bottles into oblivion, he heard loud shouts coming from the cabin. "GET OFF OF ME!" Kid spun around and took off running down the hill towards the cabin and Heyes' yelling. A hundred thoughts ran through his mind in seconds, 'Had some lawman finally found the hideout? A bounty hunter? Some wild animal attacking Heyes?' He ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

After what seemed an eternity, but was in reality only a few seconds, Kid reached the cabin and burst through the door, gun in hand. "Heyes, what's wrong?", he asked loudly in a commanding tone, looking around for the struggle that was surely going on. Another shout came from the kitchen area. "IF I EVER GET MY HANDS ON YOU,…..!" Heyes' voice rang out, loud enough that Kid was sure they heard it in Cheyenne. Curry was fast becoming confused. The first yell had sounded to him like Heyes was in trouble. This most recent outburst was obviously a threat. He immediately ran to the kitchen to Heyes' aid.

What he saw when he rounded the corner stopped him in his tracks in the doorway. He didn't see any lawman trying to arrest Heyes, nor any wild animal breaking an entering. What he DID see, was Heyes, standing in the middle of the kitchen motionless, a month-old newspaper rolled up in one hand, his dark chocolate eyes looking rapidly back and forth for something that was apparently invisible.

"Heyes, what are you doing?" Kid asked slowly, unsure of what the dark-haired outlaw leader was up to.

"SHHHHH!" Heyes hissed. "I'm trying to track them."

"Track who?" Kid asked in a hushed voice, raising his eyebrows in concern. Had the stress of leading the Devil's Hole bunch finally sent Heyes' mind over the deep end? Curry couldn't locate any other living thing in the kitchen besides his cousin.

Heyes sighed, rolling his eyes at Kid. He then looked at him with a smirk on his face. "I've been chasing them ever since last night. They are dancing on my last nerve! I can't stand it anymore!" Heyes slowly backed up as he searched the room until his back was against the wall.

"Chasing WHAT Heyes!" Kid asked again in a slightly annoyed tone. It really aggravated him the way Heyes could be so cryptic sometimes. It was like an interrogation to get a straight answer when Heyes was in those moods.

Heyes exhaled loudly. Clearly, whatever 'they' were, had gotten the best of Kid's partner. "These dang blessed FLIES!" Heyes suddenly yelled out. "There's been two flies in this cabin since yesterday evening, and all they want to do is FLY AROUND IN MY FACE! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Heyes swung an arm around, smashing it into the wall beside him. "If I EVER catch those wretched creatures, will they EVER be sorry!"

Kid Curry did his best to hide the laughter that wanted to escape him. He had rarely seen his cousin so upset and disheveled over something so small. He cleared his throat in an attempt to cover up the would-be riotous outburst. Here was a man that kept his cool ninety-eight percent of the time, no matter if they were facing cold-blooded killers, robbing a train, or escaping from jail. But within just a number of hours, two small, insignificant insects had driven him into a murderous frenzy. Kid could see the anger just ooze from Heyes' dark, fierce-looking eyes. All at once, Heyes took off at a sprint across the kitchen, the newspaper raised in the air. Apparently, he had spotted his adversary buzzing around the opposite side of the room. He slammed the newspaper down hard on a shelf, cans flying in all directions. "I WILL get you, if it's the last thing I do on this Earth!" Heyes said spinning around as the fly escaped his grasp yet again.

"Heyes, why don't you just calm down and shoo them out the window there?" Kid asked, finding it ironic that this time, HIS was the voice of reason.

"Because they WON'T GO!" Heyes sneered, his hands in the air. "Don't you think I've tried that? Numerous times? NO! These things are heck-bent on driving me crazy! They're more aggravating than Harry Briscoe ever thought about being!" Heyes froze once again as one of the offending insects flew close to his face yet again. He tensed waiting for it to land.

"Heyes, I don't think I've ever seen you this riled up!" Kid said with mock sincerity. Heyes didn't move. Finally, Kid managed to focus his eyes on the fly as it neared Heyes. It eventually landed on the outlaw leader's cheek. Heyes slowly started raising his hand. Kid could already see what was shaping up to happen and just leaned against the door frame waiting for the inevitable.

Heyes strained his eyes to watch the insect on his face. When he had risen his hand halfway, he suddenly jerked violently and slapped his hand dead center on his cheek. The force of the blow was so hard, he knocked himself down and into one of the table chairs, falling with it to the floor. All that could be seen from Kid's vantage point, was one booted foot bent over a chair leg, and a fly flying up from the crumpled figure on the floor. That was too much for Curry to hold in and he burst out in a fit of laughing he didn't think would ever end.

"It AIN'T FUNNY Kid", Heyes shouted from the floor. He pulled himself up, tried to regain his composure, but failed miserably. Kid opened his eyes, which were watering from all his hard laughter. But when he saw Heyes, the guffawing started all over again. Heyes stood there, his jaw clenched, his hat sitting sideways, half his shirt hanging loosely off him, a red welt raising on his cheek, his eyes shut. "I said it AIN'T funny Kid!" he repeated in a semi-threatening tone, straightening his hat. Right at the moment, Heyes could've been ready to blow Curry's head off with a 45 and Kid still would've been laughing.

"I can't help it Heyes!" he squeaked out between breaths. "You should see yourself!"

"Yeah, WELL!" Heyes thundered. "I swear, I'm gonna start shooting at these things if they don't get out of here. And if you don't shut up, you gonna be joining them!" Heyes dusted himself off as his eyes starting searching once more for the dreaded bugs. "Instead of having your private party over there in the doorway, you could get over here and help me."

"Alright, alright I'm comin'", Kid said wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "As long as you don't smack me like you smacked yourself!" Laughter spilled once again from the blond outlaw.

"You keep it up and I'm going to!" Heyes replied venomously. "Here." He thrust another old newspaper at Kid. "Arm yourself."

Kid took the newspaper and stood on the opposite side of the room from Heyes. He thought he caught sight of one of the flies, when Heyes once again took a wild swing, this time at the stove, propelling a skillet through the air, almost hitting himself with it. "I don't believe this," Heyes said breathlessly, sitting down on the one chair he hadn't managed to turn over yet. "One of the most notorious outlaws in the west, getting beaten by a half inch insect."

"Oh Heyes," Kid smiled, "that fly didn't beat you. You done that yourself!" He pointed to the reddish place that had taken residence on Heyes' jawbone. Heyes slapped Kid's hand away and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, blowing his hair out of his face.

Kid looked away, to try to hide the smile still on his face, when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Both flies had landed on a piece of bread someone had laid in the window. Moving slowly and carefully, he unfurled the newspaper and used it to corral the flies on out the window to freedom. Heyes' brown eyes widened as his mouth hung open. Did Kid just succeed in doing what he had been attempting to do ever since about ten o'clock last night?

"Now there, that wasn't so hard," Kid said, turning from the window triumphantly. Heyes just kept staring at him, mouth agape. "All it took was a little 'finesse'!" Kid smugly replied, closing his eyes. He opened them just in time to see a rolled up newspaper come flying across the room at his head. "Now Heyes! No need to go getting proddy!" he said ducking.

"I can't believe that just happened," Heyes started as he marched out of the kitchen and through the front door of the cabin. "Of all the stupid things….." he rambled on, walking past Wheat and the others who had just returned from town. Wheat and Kyle dismounted and ventured into the cabin to see what had gotten their fearless leader into such an uproar.

"What's going on 'round here?" Wheat called out once inside.

"Wheat? That you?" Kid answered from the kitchen.

"Yeah," Wheat replied, leading Kyle to where Kid's voice had emanated from. When they reached the kitchen, they both stopped and just looked around at the overturned chairs, and the cans and skillet on the floor. "What the heck…." Wheat started.

"Looks like somebody done set off some dynamite in here," Kyle interjected.

"Did you two decide to redecorate or somethin'," Wheat asked sarcastically.

Kid stopped his cleaning up Heyes' aftermath and looked at the two. "Nope," Kid replied, a smile still on his face. "Heyes just finally met his match!"


End file.
